EASTER AT MISSION

Everyone is invited to celebrate Easter at Mission! This is a great chance to invite the people in your world to Mission, a place where you can come as you are, experience grace & truth, belong in community and find that there really is Hope For Everyone! Check out the service times above, and don't miss this awesome weekend at Mission!

We are a group of imperfect people pursuing a perfect God. We exist to help each other find and follow Christ. We aim to passionately love Jesus, ruthlessly eliminate ego, courageously live in grace and truth, confidently know who we are in Christ, unconditionally trust God, intentionally live better stories, and selflessly extend compassion.

These are some things we want to be true of our group:

We create a safe and honest environment, staying transparent and authentic.

We keep it inside the circle. Confidentiality is necessary for a healthy group.

We look together to the Bible for help and guidance, and keep out our own politics, sales, or agendas.

We do not try to fix each other, preach sermons, or give unsolicited advice. We instead encourage, listen to, and celebrate each other.

We handle conflict between us quickly and honestly by going to the person, owning our part, and practicing forgiveness.

We respect each others’ time by starting and ending when we say we will.

We trust that it is God’s role to change people, not ours.

We believe that in Jesus Christ, there is hope for everyone.

A lot of things in life are overrated. Hope is not one of them. In this series, we are diving in, dissecting and discovering together how hope enables us to move forward with courage and confidence.

Mike Hickerson started the series with the story of Jesus and Lazarus, differentiating between a "wishful thinking" kind of hope and a "confident expectation" kind of hope. It's in this story that we hear Jesus say confidently that he is the "Resurrection and the Life"... right before he brings Lazarus back from the dead! Mike reminded us that when our hope if in Jesus, we can be confident that God will do all that He has promised to do in our lives.

CONNECT

How do you normally think of "hope"? Is it something you count on, or something you find yourself doing often?

What times in your life have you found yourself truly counting on hope to get you through? What was it that you were hoping in?

DISCOVER

Read John 11:33-39 and 41-44 together.

When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them.

They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.

But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”

So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

What are the most memorable moments for you from the story of Lazarus? What stands out or surprises you?

Although they called on him while Lazarus was still sick, Jesus did not come to see them until he was already dead. How do you think Mary and Martha felt about Jesus when he showed up four days late?

Jesus experiences several strong emotions in this story as well. What different emotions does he experience? What do his emotions around Lazarus' death tell us about Jesus?

APPLY

Biblical hope is the "confident expectation that God is willing and able to fulfill the promises he has made to those who trust in him." Like Mary and Martha after the death of their brother, where do you need that kind of hope in your life right now? What makes it hard to have that kind of hope?

When Jesus gets to Lazarus' friends and family, we see these reactions:"The people who were standing nearby said, "See how much he loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”"Jesus responds with a bold statement about who he is to Martha and Mary. Mike also talked about 6 other bold statements that he makes at different times. Which one relates to the area of your life you need the most hope right now?

I AM the Bread of Life; the Light of the World; the Gate; the Good Shepherd; the Resurrection and the Life; the way, the truth, and the life; the Vine

Mike said there were a few things we could be confident of when it comes to hope. Which of these did you need to hear? How does hearing that change the way you see God, or the way you see yourself?

nothing is impossible with God; smell of death doesn’t bother Jesus; freedom begins with the voice of Jesus

EXPERIENCE

The life, statements, and stories of Jesus are incredibly compelling! Try reading through one of the four "gospels" (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) like you would a book, getting the full force of the story in a few sittings. You can even get the YouVersion Bible app (links at the top of the page) and listen to the audio version!

Hope For Everyone

Hope is NOT...

Biblical Hope is...

...the confident expectation that God is willing and able to fulfill the promises he has made to those who trust in him.

Hope in Christ means...

my past can be forgiven

my present has meaning

my future is secure

John 11 :: Lazarus:: Sickness, Death & Disappointment ::

John 11:1-3 (NLT)

A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

John 11:5,6 (NLT)

So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days.

John 11: 17,21 (NLT)

When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days… Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

:: "I AM" ::

John 11:25,26 (NLT)

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

Seven “I AM” Statements of Jesus

I AM the Bread of Life

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)

I AM the Light of the World

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

I AM the Gate

"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture."(John 10:9)

I AM the Good Shepherd

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

I AM the Resurrection and the Life

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

I AM the way, the truth, and the life

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

I AM the Vine

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

:: Roll the stone ::

John 11:33-39 (NLT)

When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them.

They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.

But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”

:: Dead to Life ::

John 11:41-44 (NLT)

So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”